Rondy McIntosh, newly appointed Consul General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in New York, is hopeful that oil rich countries in the region, will one day be the OPEC of the Caribbean, and praised Guyana’s leadership, during a congratulatory message at a recent 53rd Republic Anniversary commemoration, in NYC.
“Guyana you have given us hope and we are hoping as well, that one day, yourself, Venezuela, and Trinidad & Tobago, will be the OPEC of the Caribbean where we no longer, must depend on what the rest of the world forced upon us. I hope our energy, our oil, and our natural gas can be provided in the region by us and make us a stronger region together.”
“As you set out to be on your ‘One Guyana’ plan, I hope that very soon it will be a ‘one Caribbean plan’,” said the diplomat, who began his professional career as an assistant at the University of the West Indies Open Campus in Kingstown.
McIntosh, who received the prestigious title of Cultural Ambassador in 2014 from the government and people of SVG and was also honored with a special award from the Brooklyn-based VincyCares organization, praised Guyana’s development trajectory. “When I got the invitation, I said it is almost impossible for me not to be here,” he said and explained that as a young man he always looked at the development in Guyana.
“I followed the movement of Guyana and saw Guyana as a leader from the start of CARIOM in 1973 with all of the other big boys in the region.”
“I have watched your struggles, and your growth and as recent as when you discovered oil and what is happening,” he said. McIntosh lauded Guyana’s Republic status, noting that St. Vincent had been struggling for many years and he would also like, “to take our own future into our hands and decide our destiny.”
“We tried it, and have failed but we have not given up,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Dr. Honorable Ralph Gonsalves is optimistic, and “we are hoping that one day, we too can shred all colonial ties and stand proud and say we are a republic.”
“We, as a nation, need to do that because we must always remember our past but chart our way and decide on our own what is going to be the future of our people,” said McIntosh.
However, McIntosh fondly known as “Luta,” one of SVG’s premier entertainers with an illustrious music career spanning 28 years, noted, “this will not be an easy task for a country like St. Vincent that has no natural resources to really stand on our own, when we depend on small taxes and loans.”
McIntosh, who joined the National Broadcasting Corporation as sales manager was able to bring financial stability to the corporation within eight months and has been at the forefront of many relief efforts following disasters. He congratulated the South American country and applauded its leadership during his guest appearance at the Guyana Consulate.
